Well, as the original poster indicated, there are different kinds. Some are more academic-based and/or honor based (like music education majors might join one). Some are service based (Alpha Phi Omega is actually a co-ed national fraternity that you have to pledge, but basically you do a lot of service projects for the community and/or university, like litter removal).
Then there are sororities and fraternities that are mostly social. These tend to get a bad rap and generally, unfairly so. These tend to be mostly for networking, they're great for getting to know people. They have a lot of parties, but generally, it's a group of people you share a lot with. You get together to study for tests, that sort of thing.
A lot of people say if you join a sorority you're just buying your friends, because there are pledging fees and stuff. I don't know. From my experience, there were people I would have met anyway and I would have become friends with, and there were some people I might not have met unless I joined, which was great! There were a lot of people I couldn't stand, and I wasn't really friends with them in college and I certainly don't communicate with them now.
Another reason sororities have negative connotations is that people think pledging is awful. It's really not. It's mostly fun. If a pledge feels like she is being asked to do something unreasonable, most groups respect that. Sometimes some pledging activities get out of hand, then the administration gets involved and the group gets warned, or altogether disbanded (it seems this is more typical of fraternities though. I could be wrong.).
And then the parties can be bad. Honestly, I think they do promote binge drinking, but again, I don't think you'd generally find chapters that force drinking on members. Binge drinking is a large part of college parties, and I think that's true of all parties, not just Greek parties.
At most colleges, people who join a sorority are encouraged to live in a sorority house. I think it's basically like living in a dorm, but you're living with members of your sorority. In my case, since our college only had local Greek groups, members still lived in dorms. A lot of times, people would sign up for a roommate from their sorority, but in no way was this expected. I think it was just a natural consequence of finding someone in your sorority you liked enough to live with. For me, being in the sorority was basically like any other club because my roommates actually were members of a different sorority, and I mostly went to the weekly meetings and parties.
Sorry for this long explanation! I hope that helped some.
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but today I ran across another unique concept for sisterhood called Chi Zeta Theta Sorority, Inc. A non-academic sorority designed for the empowerment of Plus Size women! I know first hand that many do find weight being a hindrance to pledging or partaking in membership activities. Whether it’s a lack of confidence or comfort when showing interest they fall short. My sophomore year my dorm roommate never pursued a particular org b/c of her weight … she was over qualified and a great worker, but standing in her way was fear of being the biggest one on line … and I must admit … I was reluctant as well but I was blessed to find a place where I am accepted for being ME … and we all know in that arena it’s not always so … They “ChiZQTees” have wonderful causes … and have expanded since it’s beginning in 2005 … chizetatheta.com … Any experiences with organizations that weren’t fond of big girls???
but what exactly is a sorority for? What do you have to do to become part of a sorority, what does being in one mean? What do you do once you're in one? Do most schools in the States have them?
